The American novel now : reading contemporary American fiction since 1980 /
O'Donnell, Patrick,1948-
Chichester : Wiley-Blackwell,
2010.
"Contemporary American fiction since 1980 is known for its remarkable liveliness, diversity, and rigor, The American Novel Now navigates this exciting and vast terrain, offering a symptomatic reading of contemporary American fiction that considers both mainstream and experimental writing from over seventy different authors and novels. Featured authors include Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Louise Erdrich, Don Delillo, Richard Powers, Kathy Acker, and many more." "The book explores a wide range of themes offered in the wealth of contemporary American fiction, including identity, history, family, nation, and aesthetics, as well as cultural movements, styles, and narrative strategies. The American Novel Now provides an excellent guide for those who wish to be introduced to the contexts, vitality, and diversity of the contemporary American novel over the last thirty years."--BOOK JACKET.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Part I: Before 1980 -- Part II: From New Realisms to Postmodernism -- This American Life -- Dirty Realisms -- Only Wor(l)ds -- Magnifying Reality, Multiplying Genre -- Part III: Becoming Identities -- Reinventing Character -- Racing Identity -- Engendering Narrative -- Toward the Posthuman -- Part IV: What Happened to History? -- The Past is Prologue -- Tunneling In -- Imagining Epoch -- Another History -- Narrating Vietnam -- Catastrophe: The Ends of History -- Part V: Relations Stopping Nowhere -- The Postnuclear Family -- The Reach of Community -- From There to Here: Migration and Nation
"Contemporary American fiction since 1980 is known for its remarkable liveliness, diversity, and rigor, The American Novel Now navigates this exciting and vast terrain, offering a symptomatic reading of contemporary American fiction that considers both mainstream and experimental writing from over seventy different authors and novels. Featured authors include Toni Morrison, Thomas Pynchon, Louise Erdrich, Don Delillo, Richard Powers, Kathy Acker, and many more." "The book explores a wide range of themes offered in the wealth of contemporary American fiction, including identity, history, family, nation, and aesthetics, as well as cultural movements, styles, and narrative strategies. The American Novel Now provides an excellent guide for those who wish to be introduced to the contexts, vitality, and diversity of the contemporary American novel over the last thirty years."--BOOK JACKET.
American fiction
Literature and society
Literature and history